And then I thought, Why?
It’s just hair. And it’s totally fun.
And it’s totally damaged from swimming anyway.
So let’s emphasize the summer-swim-shade and then cut it off when she’s sick of it?

Yesssss.

So we did it!
And I love how it turned out!
Okay, we both love how it turned out.

Clara the five-year-old, going on fifteen.
Actually, these pics were taken a few weeks before her birthday, so in other colorful news…CLARA IS SIX! If you’ve followed along over the years, it’s crazy to think of her going from tiny chubby cheeks, to not talking, to talking, to blue hair.

In all honesty, I didn’t really know what I was doing with the hair dye, but it was pretty easy and took about a 1/2 hour.
At first we were going to try the koolaid method, but people quickly told me how badly it dries out your hair. So I went to the beauty supply store and asked for their input. She recommended a few brands, and I picked up this, and (for any graphic design nerds out there) loved that the color was Cyan. CMYK baby.

The beauty store lady said the color was semi-permanent and would fade with each wash. But that on really blonde hair, the color would probably never fully come out…which I was fine with. I figured at some point, we’d give her a cute little bob cut. Of course I put the dye a liiiiiittle higher up than intended, so we’ll see when that happens.

Here’s how we did the dye:
I draped an old towel around her and I wore gloves. Then I started at the bottom of her hair and smooshed it around on her hair, applying it thoroughly at the bottom (the dye was creamy like conditioner). Then I moved up her hair till I got mid-way, applying a little lighter. And then I stroked a few bits of dye higher up with my hand. I wish I had blended it a little bit better…maybe left more blonde areas in the mix. But overall it worked. Then we washed it out in the tub (and washed a nice vat of blue water down the drain).
So far (we took these pics a month ago) her hair has faded a bit. But we’ve only washed it a few times, so it’s still pretty blue!

Here’s the Before and After:

Of course it helps when the Before hair hasn’t been brushed for a day, and the After hair is blown out and flat-ironed.After pics always have the advantage.

Our favorite way to style it, is curled.
And it goes great with a simple skirt, out of my new fabric collection called Day Trip!…which I haven’t even shared on the blog yet, but I will.

And the curls are even better after too much twirling, too much jumping, and too much photo-shooting.

The turquoise color makes me think of a few things….
Like blue ombre cakes and quilts.

In fact, just google “blue ombre” and you’ll be swimming down a cyan rabbit hole of the most amazing hair you’ve ever seen.
Why didn’t I do that before I just winged it (wunged it?) and tried it?

And speaking of Vanessa….dude, her ombre fabric now comes with metallic dots!! It’s so amazing. If you follow her, I’m sure you’ve been ooohing and ahhhing at every photo.

Aaaannd, that turquoise color just happens to be the color of the new shop. Well, the shop isn’t new, but we gave it a facelift! The shop platform is now through Shopify, so whenever you log on you can access old purchases, etc. Yay!
Check out the new look.

For Clara’s big #6 birthday, we had a simple party after school, which is my favorite. She invited over a few friends from school and church. We let them color pictures on the table, they made jewelry, played with dolls, ate some treats, and sang to the birthday girl.

And I decorated the drop-down ceiling with a cheap metallic table skirt! Haah. It’s my new favorite trick.

Happy birthday to our Clara girl. She is full of spunk and personality.
And always has a smile on her face.
We love you little lady!

You’re gonna have this song stuck in your head, so I apologize in advance.
But it will be worth it. And….maybe you’ll need a couple of things besides love for a custom painted t-shirt project, but not many!

And I love that fabric paint is available in soooo many colors and textures. Even glow-in-the-dark and metallic! You can keep it simple, or go crazy.
Mix as many colors as you want, get the exact shade you’re looking for.
Who’s the boss? YOU are.

Want to feel like a sewing wizard? That’s how I feel about learning new skills. And today we’re going to make you a wizard of fancy fabrics. SEQUINS. LACE. SATIN. Bring it all.

Have you oooh’ed and aaah’ed over fabrics like this at the store, but you didn’t know what you’d do with them? It can feel intimidating. I mean, it’s not like you would make a pillowcase out of sequined fabric.

OK, you could. But there are far more comfortable fabrics to sleep on. Haah.

Answer: Make a skirt!
YES. And then you’ll be ready for your next party. Or you know, your next trip to the grocery store.
Because why not be fancy every day??

The extra awesome part about this skirt…is that it’s LINED, so it’s the perfect project for those textured, lacy, eyelet, or sheer fabrics. Now you know what to do with them! And, you can get extra wizardly and add a sash/tie around the waist (like the pink skirt above). Just follow this tutorial here.

Okay let’s sew. Hit the play button below and enjoy!

If you’re new around here, MADE EVERYDAY with Dana is a fresh and fun sewing show, where we create everyday items you will love and use.

To watch other episodes–Subscribe to my YouTube channel so you’re updated as soon as the episode goes live.